This post debuts a new weekly feature here at stabenow.com. I’m very active on my Facebook page, posting lots of links and photos and talking to friends and fans about books I’m writing, books I’m reading, YouTube videos I like, recipes, news from Alaska…when it occurred to me that only about 1,200 people look at my Facebook page daily, when anywhere from 2,000 to 8,000 people look at this page every day. Hmm. I should be paying more attention to you folks.
So, every Sunday I’ll be posting here some of the links I posted on my Facebook page during the previous week, along with some of the comments they generate, too.
One of my favorite sites is GraphJam, where people make up weird and sometimes wonderfully on point graphics to illustrate social memes, like this one on July 9th:
Laurie R. King‘s comment was, “Sorry, neither of us write books dreary enough for Oprah. We’re doomed.” What she said.
Sharon Kay Penman forwarded this link to me, Worst Sex Scenes Ever in A Book?, from rabid reader MisfitandMom’s Live Journal blog. Comments ranged from “I’m fizzing and juddering” to “I’ve never been sure where the corolla is. Are there illustrations?”
My video pick of the week, a mentally deranged bunch at Toolik Dances With Mosquitoes to honor the passing of Michael Jackson:
I worked four months down the road at Galbraith and six years at Prudhoe Bay, and I promise you the mosquitoes are even worse than it looks here.
Here’s a link to an event that I believe will be the first of its kind: The Poisoned Pen WebCon, a virtual crime fiction conference, hosted by the Poisoned Pen Bookstore and the Poisoned Pen Press. I (modest cough) am the Guest of Honor, and Lee Child is the International Guest of Honor. $25 and a mouse click and you get to hang out all day online (October 24th) with your favorite writers, and talk to editors, agents and publishers, without paying for a hotel room. And I don’t have to get on a plane, either, which makes me happy.
And a lot of people liked this photo of a bouquet I picked from my garden. Those are forget-me-nots (my favorite flower) and I forget what the hot pink ones are called, but they’re really pretty and they smell really good.
Enjoy, and check back next Sunday for more! And if you don’t want to wait that long, friend me on Facebook.
Hooray, there will be more site stuff! Dana, I am thrilled. I visit your site because it’s more *reliable* than Facebook. On your stuff, all your link lead to somewhere. The system doesn’t freeze, and there are no pop-up quizzes which turn out to be lame ads. Facebook is a grand invention, but my system develops indigestion from it.
The flowers are lovely and the mosquitoes are the size of barn cats. Thanks for the excerpt
You are most welcome! I’ll pass your compliments on to my webmaster, too.
OK, that performance was priceless. And I love that they were biologists.
Headcases with Headnets R Them.
Dana, Here’s the reason I bought 4 of your books….
As a child, I was determined to read every book in the library … and being a compulsive sort even then… I started with the A’s. I read and I read and I read and I read. Finally, sweet Mrs. Latimer caught on to what was happening and told me that I would never get out of the A’s because authors were writing new books every day. Well, this completely blew my 7 year old mind. The world changed forever.
Now… I am a newly retired teacher from Falmouth, MA .
37 years teaching 6-7 year olds First Grade Teaticket School
Falmouth is on Cape Cod near Woods Hole (village)
Woods Hole has a Coast Guard base, NOAA, and other scientific institutions
Continuing in my compulsive ways, I was searching for an “A” mystery book to read on Amazon. Alaska popped up. (I am an impulse buyer. I love Amazon. They love me.) BUT… very quicky … I ordered the books because you were a new to me author (recommended on Goodreads) and because you killed PAULA PAWLOWSKI!
I knew a Pawlowski family. Paula and Bob had three children. Katie and Michael were in my class in First Grade. David was in (or entering) Kindergarten when the family was transfered back to Alaska. Paula was one of my most memorable Moms. She was fun, kind, smart, interested in everything her children were doing (and not in a helicopter-y kind of way). She and Bob loved each other. Hopefully they still do. They both helped in the classroom. Bob even built a dinosaur that lived on for many years after they left. Cleaning out the basement during this first year of retirement, I came across other classroom things Paula gave me. I have never forgotten them or her … especially. I considered her a friend and was very sad when she left. I got a sweet letter from Michael once when they lived in Anchorage but then I lost track of the family and their address. I did hear that Paula was involved with the National PTA.
Now I realize there are a few Paula Pawlowskis in the world..but it does seem serendipitous that this slender connection exists.
Here are some possibilities.
1. You got Paula’s name out of the phone book.
2. You know Paula. If you do tell her Hello!
3. I have way too much time on my hands now…. so anyway… Thanks for the books. Sharon Miller
It was a while ago so I can’t be sure, and maybe she’ll read this here and respond herself, but I think Paula bid and won on the character name. I hope I asked her if she minded if I killed her.
Anyway…thanks for the read!
The pink flowers are sea thrift, Armeria maritima and they grow in my garden too.
I’m about two books behind in the Kate series, but maxed out in Liam. I love them all.
Is there any way to get a copy of your book on promoting your book online other than as an iPod or iPhone download? I have neither, but I do have a book I want to promote.
Thanks, Mary, glad you’re enjoying them!
The promo piece is also available on Kindle.